07:42:17 EDT Thu 28 Mar 2024
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Feronia Inc (2)
Symbol FRN
Shares Issued 346,938,173
Close 2016-08-22 C$ 0.135
Market Cap C$ 46,836,653
Recent Sedar Documents

Feronia appoints Braeken as chairman

2016-08-23 09:51 ET - News Release

Mr. Xavier de Carniere reports

FERONIA INC. ANNOUNCES CHANGES TO BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Feronia Inc. has made changes to its board of directors.

Frank Braeken, currently an independent, non-executive director of the company, has been appointed non-executive chairman. Mr. Braeken has extensive experience in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector, including 26 years spent with Unilever, where he lived and worked in nine countries on four continents. In 2009, Mr. Braeken became head of Unilever's Namca region, with responsibility for markets across North Africa, the Middle East and central Africa. In 2011, Mr. Braeken became head of Unilever Africa, where he had overall responsibility for the $3-billion (U.S.) operation.

Ravi Sood, previously executive chairman, will remain with the company as executive director.

Feronia is also pleased to announce the appointment of four new non-executive directors, namely: Nicholas Thompson, CBE, Monique Gieskes, David Osborne and David Easton.

Mr. Thompson is the former chief executive officer of New Britain Palm Oil Ltd. (NBPOL) and brings a wealth of palm oil industry experience to the Feronia board. During his 21 years as managing director/chief executive officer of NBPOL, Mr. Thompson was instrumental in its transformation from a modest 15,400-hectare oil palm plantation into a world-class producer of certified and sustainable palm oil and the largest single employer in Papua New Guinea. In 2007, Mr. Thompson led the company to a successful listing on the London Stock Exchanges, and, in 2010, the company built a palm oil refinery in Liverpool, United Kingdom, the first refinery in the world to be dedicated to sustainable and traceable palm oil. Mr. Thompson stepped down as chief executive officer of NBPOL in 2015 following its $1.7-billion (U.S.) acquisition by Sime Darby Plantations.

Mrs. Gieskes was born in Kinshasa and educated in Belgium and the United States. For more than 30 years Mrs. Gieskes's career has been focused on managerial, commercial and legal affairs in Africa, Europe and Asia. In 2008, she launched the operations of the Vlisco Group in the Dominican Republic of the Congo (DRC) and, within just a few years, took it from a start-up business into an iconic luxury goods company with a large distribution network and flagship stores throughout central Africa. Since 2015, Mrs. Gieskes has been regional director of Vlisco's central African cluster and a member of the Vlisco Group's executive committee. Until 2014, Mrs. Gieskes was also a board member at the Federation des Entreprises du Congo (FEC), the key group representing the interests of businesses operating in the DRC.

Mr. Easton and Mr. Osborne also join the Feronia board as representatives of CDC Group PLC, the United Kingdom government's development finance institution and Feronia's largest shareholder.

Mr. Easton is an investment director and head of consumer businesses at CDC Group. Mr. Easton led CDC's initial investment in Feronia in 2013 and leads CDC's investment program across agri-business, retail, health care and education, investing in many industry-leading companies across Africa and South Asia.

Mr. Osborne is a director and head of portfolio management at CDC Group. Prior to joining CDC, he spent 24 years at 3i Group PLC in both London and Singapore. He ran the Islamic Infrastructure Fund and was a managing partner at CapAsia, an emerging Asian infrastructure fund manager.

Keith Alexander and Joel Strickland will be stepping down as non-executive directors of the company, although Mr. Alexander will remain as chairman of the company's environmental, social and governance (ESG) board committee.

Mr. Braeken, chairman of Feronia, commented: "I am delighted to have the opportunity to become chairman of Feronia, and I look forward to building on all that has been achieved over the last seven years and leading the company through the next exciting phase of its development. I would like to thank our founder, Ravi Sood, for his hard work as chairman over the last eight years. With his experience and knowledge, it is a huge positive that he will continue on the board of Feronia as an executive director.

"It is with great pleasure that I welcome Nick, Monique, David and David to the board. In Nick, we have someone with almost unparalleled experience in the palm oil industry and, likewise, Monique, when it comes to building and running businesses in the DRC and Africa. I am sure that their addition to the board will prove hugely beneficial. As an organization, we have known David Easton and David Osborne for some time, and I welcome them to the board. In CDC, we have an extremely supportive shareholder and the addition of their representatives to our board will only further our ability to leverage their expertise and support.

"Finally I would like to thank Keith and Joel for their contributions as non-executive directors, and I am extremely pleased that Keith has agreed to continue as chairman of the ESG board committee. Such continuity is important as we continue to work towards RSPO [Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil] certification in 2017."

Following these changes, the board of directors of Feronia will consist of the following individuals:

  • Frank Braeken -- independent non-executive chairman;
  • Xavier de Carniere -- chief executive officer, executive director;
  • Ravi Sood -- executive director;
  • Monique Gieskes -- independent non-executive director;
  • Nicholas Thompson, CBE -- independent non-executive director;
  • Nigel Gourlay -- independent non-executive director;
  • David Osborne -- CDC Group nominee, non-executive director;
  • David Easton -- CDC Group nominee, non-executive director;
  • Peter Van As -- Phatisa nominee, non-executive director;
  • David White -- Phatisa nominee, independent non-executive director.

The above-noted changes to the board are subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

Feronia is also pleased to announce that, effective as of Aug. 18, 2016, it has continued from the Province of Ontario to the Province of British Columbia. The continuance was approved by a special resolution of shareholders at the annual and special meeting of shareholders held on June 20, 2016.

The company also announces that it has approved the grant of 6,938,800 deferred share units (DSUs) to each of Mr. de Carniere, chief executive officer of the company, and David Steel, chief financial officer of the company. Under the terms of the DSU award agreements, 10 per cent of the DSUs granted will vest on the first day of September, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021, and up to an additional 10 per cent of the DSUs granted may vest on the first day of January, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022, subject to achieving certain performance targets to be determined by the compensation committee of the company. The full text of the DSU plan is set out in the company's management information circular dated May 17, 2016, which is filed under the company's SEDAR profile. The DSU plan is intended to enhance the company's ability to attract and retain talented individuals to serve as directors, officers and employees by allowing such individuals to participate in the long-term success of the company and to promote a greater alignment of interests between such individuals and the shareholders of the company.

About Feronia

At the heart of Feronia lies a long-established palm oil business, Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC), which has three remotely located plantations: Lokutu, Yaligimba and Boteka. The company also has an arable farming operation that grows and processes rice.

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